Despite being excluded from the Governor’s Debate tonight, and no invites yet for the two coming next month, Travis Irvine will make his answers available for everyone.
Help us get Travis trending! Follow along, comment and retweet at:
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Travis Irvine recently sat down with NBC4i to discuss pressing matters for the state of Ohio and its citizens.
When asked about voters that supported Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary and Mary Taylor in the Republican primary was candid about understanding their issues.
“Basically, both groups of voters are single-issue voters,” Irvine said. “With Dennis Kucinich, his numbers were higher in counties where the opioid crisis is ravaging communities and the reason he got higher numbers there is because he spoke about legalizing marijuana.”
The Libertarian Party has always supported the legalization of marijuana for all uses and many people believe that marijuana could be a way to wean those struggling with addiction off opioids.
Regarding supporters of Mary Taylor, Travis says it comes down to what people think of Mike DeWine.
“Mike DeWine is an old, establishment Republican, people don’t know where he stands on issues,” Irvine said. “People are looking for new options. The Libertarians offer people an outsider perspective into politics.”
You can watch the full interview.
Donate today to support Irvine for Ohio and our Libertarian candidates across the state!
COLUMBUS—Libertarian Travis Irvine received the first major endorsement of his campaign for Ohio governor Tuesday from Charlie Earl, the party’s 2014 candidate for the same office.
Earl, an ex-Republican who represented the 80th district in the Ohio House from 1981 to 1984, released the following statement Tuesday:
CONCERNING THE ENDORSEMENT OF TRAVIS IRVINE FOR GOVERNOR
“With the ever-increasing growth and interference of the federal government affecting our daily lives, it is vital that the citizens of Ohio elect a governor and lieutenant governor who are dedicated to individual liberty. Gubernatorial candidate Travis Irvine and Todd Grayson, his running mate, are prime examples of the type of public servants Ohioans require. Our historic reliance on the two-party system has led to the betrayal of our people and the undermining of our democratic republic. Travis and Todd represent a new beginning for Ohio. Fresh ideas and liberty-driven energy are the cornerstones of their efforts to return our state government to its rightful place as a responsive servant of the people rather than a master of our fates.
“Therefore, I enthusiastically and unequivocally endorse Travis Irvine for governor of Ohio and Todd Grayson for lieutenant governor of our state. Their commitments to liberty and their lack of relationships with the Ohio version of the “Swamp” makes them the most qualified for leading us forward. Please vote for Ohio. Please vote for liberty. Please vote to end the two-party strangulation of our potential. I urge you to vote for Irvine/Grayson on November 6th.”
“I’m extremely grateful to receive the support of a great man and great candidate like Charlie Earl, and I plan to pick up where he was forced to leave off in standing up for Ohio against the two corrupt parties that control Columbus,” said Irvine in response to Earl’s endorsement.
Earl’s 2014 run for governor, which would have easily won enough votes to retain ballot access for the Libertarian Party, was derailed when Secretary of State John Husted first certified Earl’s candidacy, then removed Earl’s name from the ballot after Republican party officials orchestrated a technical challenge to Earl’s petition. Though the rule in question was ambiguous had never been enforced for Republican or Democrat petitions, Husted’s ruling was upheld, forcing the Libertarian Party of Ohio to regain ballot access by spending more than $250,000 on getting more 100,00 signatures from Ohio voters.
Show your support for Libertarian Candidates across Franklin County and Ohio, Donate, Volunteerand Get Involved!
From Wes Benedict:
Dear Libertarian,
Months and months of hard work have been paying off as we cross the ballot-access finish line in more states.
This week, we add Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania to the tally.
That puts us at ballot access in 48 states (plus DC) for 2018!
It is also worth noting and celebrating that this is the first time in
20 years that voters in Connecticut will be able to vote for a Libertarian candidate for Governor!
Plus, the two states without ballot access, Tennessee and Alabama, aren’t completely without ballot access. In fact, Alabama has four candidates on the ballot as Libertarians for local or state house offices. However, we don’t categorize Alabama as fully on the ballot because Alabama Libertarians didn’t qualify for a statewide office.
Tennessee has five candidates on the ballot as independents because they didn’t qualify to get on the ballot as Libertarians. The states of Alabama and Tennessee both make it especially hard for Libertarians to qualify for the ballot – something we’ll continue fighting to improve.
Regarding at least some Libertarians on the ballot in all 50 states, Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News commented, “no other alternative party can be shown to have reached this midterm milestone since 1890, when official balloting began.”
Please join me in congratulating and thanking all those who have pitched in to achieve ballot access for 2018. This includes thousands of activists, volunteers, donors, and staff and the Johnson/Weld campaign which achieved ballot access for us in 37 of these states.
Well done, team!
Onward to Election Day!
Wes Benedict
Executive Director
If you want to run for US Congress in Ohio District 15, how many validated signatures do you need to collect?
Any Ohioan that wants to run for political office must circulate petitions in their communities to collect signatures from valid registered Ohio voters.
Whether running for Governor, US Congress or local dog catcher, the petitions are a legally binding assertion that those voters agree that the candidate must be allowed on the ballot.
Major Party Candidate
50
Minor Party Candidate
25
Independent Candidate
1% of 336,807 = 3368 [1]
While voters signing a petition face no consequence for filling one out wrong, or not signing their name exactly the same as their voter card, candidates for office are regularly threatened with jail time and excessive fines for what amount to minor clerical errors and voter confusion about using cursive or printing their names.
Validating 50 or 25 voters is of no burden. Validating several thousand voter signatures is a significant burden.
This has left many law abiding and civic minded Ohioans cautious and discouraged from participating in the much needed political discourse that keeps this great state alive at its heart.
Get involved: donate, run for office, attend meetings, show up and make it happen.
After 4 years of changing the rules, ignoring the Ohio Constitution, dragging their feet, spending an estimated $575,000 on lawyers and legal shenanigans, the Ohio Republican Party has succeeded in thwarting choice at the ballot and discouraging competition.
Ohio voters deserve better than political dynasties and empty promises.
Get the Libertarian Party back on the ballot!
Sign the Minor Party Petition Today!
In 2014 the Republican controlled Ohio legislature passed Senate Bill 193 (amending ORC 3501.38). This bill was designed and timed to prevent the Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) from appearing on the ballot in 2014. At the same time, the Ohio Republican Party (GOP) spent an estimated $575,000 to represent a “guileless dupe” in challenging the candidate petitions for the Libertarian Governor Candidate. With both avenues for ballot access denied the Libertarian Party of Ohio moved forward with placing our candidate for United States President on the 2016 ballot. Even after achieving better than the required 3% of the general vote the Secretary of State denied LPO Minor Party Status on the grounds that the POTUS candidate did not appear on the ballot as a Libertarian. Taking the matter to the Ohio Supreme Court the LPO was denied justice again, with the dissenting justice, William O’Neill observing that the ruling was “circular reasoning.”
The Libertarian Party of Ohio must now collect 50,000 validated signatures from registered Ohio voters to qualify for Minor Party status and place our candidates on the ballot.
Get involved, sign the ballot access petition, donate, run for office, attend meetings, show up and make it happen.
UPDATE: Libertarian candidate Johnny Miller will be attending the Ohio Congressional District 15 Candidates Forum this Sunday, March 18th, from 2pm to 4pm.
Mr Miller will making a short speech and then be available at an event provided table to listen to your concerns and discuss our opportunities in moving Ohio toward liberty.
The organizers of the forum are still declining to allow Mr Miller to participate in the moderated forum. We are disappointed with this and continue to press for inclusion.
Please join us at the event and show Ohio we stand together for a brighter tomorrow.
https://www.facebook.com/events/452759418471622/
This Thursday Feb 22nd is the deadline for submitting Central Committee nominations for Franklin County.
If you are interested in being nominated for the County Central Committee please fill out the form below.
By way of Michelle MacCutcheon,
– we got our first Libertarian statewide officeholder, who is now running for U.S. Senate
– the New Mexico Libertarian Party was recognized as an official major party
– an ex-Democratic state legislator joined the party to run as a Libertarian for Secretary of State
– the Nevada party is on the cusp of achieving official status by exceeding 1% of all registered voters
– our Libertarian state legislators in New Hampshire introduced a bipartisan marijuana legalization bill, and other bills relating to ballot access
– our Libertarian state senator in Nebraska got her occupational licensing bill through committee with the enthusiastic support of both the ACLU & the state’s biggest conservative think tank
– Libertarians in Oxnard, California successfully gathered enough signatures to recall the mayor and three city council members
– the Libertarian mayor of Calimesa, CA attracted national press attention for the massive savings, and butting heads with the unions, over his fire department reforms
– the Ohio Libertarian Party passed over 81,000 signatures on its party petition, working toward the ~55,000 valid signatures needed, and according to Richard Winger, the most gathered by any third-party in any state since 2008. ( currently at 48K+)
– Michelle MacCutcheon
